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BSoUP
Member's views
by
Brian Pitkin
Reproduced
from in focus 54
(March 1995)
Last
autumn BSoUP asked its members to assist in planning future
developments by completing a questionnaire. By the end of
October, 57 of BSoUP's 300+ members had returned their completed
questionnaires which Fleur Fillingham, our membership secretary
and treasurer, has analysed. Although the returns up to that
time represent only just over a quarter of our total membership
the results of the survey may be of interest to members.
Of
the respondents 49 were male and 8 were female, a ratio of
about I : 6. All of the females and 40 of the males were white
collar workers, the remaining 9 males were manual workers.
17 of the respondents were between 25 and 40; 26 were between
41 and 55; and 14 were 56 or more. If these figures reflect
membership as a whole then BSoUP is not attracting younger
members, in particular females.
Membership
of BSoUP in terms of years was spread evenly through I -10
years, but there was a noticeable gap between 10 and 20 years,
with 11 members retaining membership of the Society for 20
years or more!
Nearly
half of the respondents attended monthly meetings only sometimes
(23); fewer never attended monthly meetings (19); and the
remainder attended most monthly meetings (15). Of the 37 respondents
who had attended one or more meetings the majority thought
the programme was good (29), excellent (3) or satisfactory
(3). Only two of the respondents found the meetings disappointing.
So it would appear that the monthly meetings cater for the
needs of most members.
The
Holland Club, current venue for our monthly meetings, was
rated good by 20 members and satisfactory by 19 members. None
thought the venue poor. 1 would have to agree that the venue
could be better, although it has been redecorated since the
questionnaires were sent out, but at the price we pay represents
good value for money and parking is not a problem. Moreover,
as Colin Doeg, one of BSoUP's founding members, has pointed
out, there is no extraneous light!
The
vast majority of members attending meetings rated the content
interesting (33) or excellent (5)! Similar numbers found the
range of topics covered interesting (32) or excellent(6)!
Asked if they wanted more coverage of British waters the majority
felt the balance was about right (23) whilst a significant
minority wanted more (14). One member did not want more coverage
of British waters! There was an overwhelming response to continue
our monthly FOCUS ON competitions! Not one member expressed
an interest in video!
The
major reason for not attending monthly meetings appears to
be distance from the venue (14), followed by work commitments
(6). No surprises there! Two respondents wanted regional meetings.
Asked
their opinion of the Society's newsletter, IN FOCUS, the majority
found it interesting (35) or excellent (11). As far as content
of the newsletter goes, members suggested the inclusion of
colour photographs (5), more articles by members (5), articles
on composition and technique (2), dark room techniques (2),
salient points of BACK TO BASICS talks (1), hints on basic
repairs (1) and practical tips (1), equipment reviews (1)
and technical details of equipment (1), digital imaging (1),
profiles on marine life (1) and lists of approved boats/skippers
for photographers (1), British sites of special interest (1)
and members (1).
It
would certainly be nice if we could reproduce colour photographs,
but for such a relatively small number of members, the cost
would be very high, although members might be prepared to
pay this? The newsletter editor has always solicited members
to contribute articles and encouragingly 9 respondents to
the survey were prepared to write articles. Now we have some
idea of members needs, perhaps those who volunteered and any
other BSoUP member, would like to put pen to paper or fingers
to keyboard and start writing.
Asked
what members liked about BSoUP, a significant number of respondents
said they liked the informal atmosphere of the meetings (12)
where they could share their interests in underwater photography
with other members. Individual members commented on the enthusiasm
(1), expertise (1) or helpfulness (1) of members and others
on the good programme balance (1) and standard of presentations
(1).
Asked
what they didn't like about BSoUP, a few mentioned the central
location of the meetings venue (6), and fewer still the fact
that meetings never started on time (3). Individual members
commented that they didn't know everyone (1), felt that the
Society was too elitist (1) or insular (1), dominated by old
hands (1). In respect of competitors one member commented
that there was too much emphasis on competitions with narrow
subject categories (1) and another felt that judging competitions
by the audience present did nothing to improve standards (1)
Very
encouragingly all respondents stated that they would be renewing
their membership!
It
could be argued that the 57 members who completed and returned
questionnaires are those most likely to be positive about
BSoUP. However, additional questionnaires were distributed
and collected at the November meeting. When these have been,
an update on members views of the BSoUP will appear in these
pages. And of course your committee will act on any widely
held views arising form the survey.
Our
thanks to all those who completed questionnaires and to Fleur
Fillingham who carried out the analysis on which this overview
is based.
Reproduced
from in focus 54 (March 1995)
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